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Two Proposals For Rebuilding Liberated America |
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by Sam Smith
(No verified email address) |
24 Mar 2003
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If people want to yammer about patriotism, let them put their money where their mouth is. |
Iraq is not the only place that's going to need reconstruction after the war; America already needs it. Here are a couple of starter ideas:
The first comes from journalist Jon Rowe: we should recognize the role played by powerful individuals and corporations in making Saddam Hussein the man he became. Suggests Rowe: "No person or corporation who did business with Saddam Hussein, except regarding such items as food and medical supplies, should be able to cash in on the rebuilding of that country."
The second idea addresses the question of whether those of us who oppose the war support our soldiers. Your editor's response is sometimes, "Sure I support our soldiers, I just don't support their generals." But then I offer this proof:
Since we have been told repeatedly that Saddam Hussein is a reincarnation of Hitler and that September 11 was Pearl Harbor all over again, we should treat the veterans of Gulf War Two at least as well as we treated the veterans of World War II. My suggestion is that they not only receive the equivalent of the GI Bill for college education and the VA home loan programs, but that they become entitled to coverage under Medicare immediately upon leaving the military.
This flag-waving administration and Congress, even as this is written, are substantially cutting into veterans' benefits. This is nothing new. Veterans have done progressively worse after each war since WWII, despite the programs that were instituted following that conflict being among the most productive social policies ever created by an American government.
If people want to yammer about patriotism, let them put their money where their mouth is. |
See also:
http://prorev.com/indexa.htm
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